This description relates to metallic cartridge reloading.
The most common calibers of metallic cartridges, for example, are 9 mm, .38 caliber, .40 caliber, and .45 caliber, and there are others.
A cartridge typically is constructed of a bullet (which is also sometimes called a projectile), a cylindrical shell (which is also sometimes called a case), a propellant (which is typically gunpowder), and a primer. Generally, the bullet is cylindrical and has a hollow, round, or flat point on one end. The other end of the bullet is flat or boat-tailed, fits the shell, and is held by the open end of the shell until the bullet is fired.
The other end of the shell is formed to have a washer-shaped round rim. The hole in the center of the rim houses the primer. In use, the cartridge is held within the chamber of the firearm. When the bullet is discharged by a pin impacting the primer (each time the trigger of the firearm is pulled), the firearm can eject the spent cartridge and (in the case of semiautomatic operation) loads another, fresh cartridge into the chamber of the firearm.
Machines called reloaders (or reloading presses) are used to process spent cartridges for reuse. When the cartridges have been reloaded, they include fresh bullets, propellants, and primers. It is the shells that are reused; the other components of the cartridge must be replaced, methodically and precisely. A sequence of several steps is involved in reloading a spent cartridge. The sequence must be followed carefully in order to produce a usable, reloaded cartridge safely.
A reloader may include several processing stations arranged at fixed positions in a circle or a line. At each of the processing stations, one of the steps of the sequence is performed. As the shell is being subjected to each of the steps at the respective processing stations, other shells are typically being processed simultaneously to complete other steps of the sequence at the other processing stations.
The processing of shells occurs in a succession of processing cycles. Each of the cycles includes a processing segment and a relocating segment. During the processing segment of each of the cycles, each of the shells is located at a stationary position at one of the processing stations where the steps of the reloading are performed. During the relocating segment of each cycle that follows the processing segment, all of the shells are moved simultaneously to the next stations. To do this, some reloaders include a rotating shell plate that holds the cartridges that are being processed. During the processing segment of each cycle, a spent shell is placed at a first processing station of the reloader and at other stations the shell is restored back to original specifications, propellant is added, a new primer is added, a bullet is added, and the shell is crimped to hold the bullet in place. After the processing segment of the cycle has been completed, and as the relocating segment of the cycle proceeds, the reloaded cartridge that was being processed at the final processing station is ejected from the reloader. At some of the processing stations, some of the steps can be performed manually or automatically or a combination of both.
Depending on the duty cycle (duration) of the processing cycles, a variable number of cartridges can be reloaded in an hour, for example. The timing of the segments of, and the total duration of, the duty cycle is subject to the capabilities of the machine and the operator.
Additional information about reloaders, their construction, and how they are operated, can be found on the World Wide Web at various sites, including videos found on YouTube.
A number of manufacturers offer reloaders on the commercial market. One such reloader is the Dillon Super 1050. (See http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/content/p/9/pid/26048/catid/1/Super_1050_220 Volt, for example.) The Dillon Super 1050 is equipped with a hand crank that controls the processing cycles, drives the rotating shell plate around the central axis, and drives mechanical elements at the various processing stations that perform processing steps involved in the reloading.
Some of the processing steps in the reloading sequence require a force to be applied by a die (known as a reloading die) to the cartridge being reloaded. In the Dillon Super 1050, each of the processing stations may include a die mounted in a fixed position relative to the central axis. The dies, which are used to apply the forces to the cartridges, are mounted on a round die support positioned above the shell plate. During processing, the round die support holding the dies moves up and down relative to the stationary shell plate that holds the cartridges being processed. The processing segment of each processing cycle begins with the die supported at its uppermost position relative to the shell plate. During the processing segment, the die support is forced downward towards the stationary shell plate so that the dies can apply their forces to the cartridges, until the die support reaches a lowermost position at which the processing steps are completed. Then the die support returns upward to its original, uppermost position. During the later portion of the upward motion of the die support, the relocating segment begins, and the shell plate is rotated to its next position.
When the Dillon Super 1050 is being operated manually, a crank is moved back and forth from a starting position by the operator during each of the processing cycles. One end of the crank is attached to a rotating drive cylinder that is mounted eccentrically on the reloader to drive (through mechanical linkages) the upward and downward motion of the die support. The eccentric mounting is arranged to correspond to the uppermost position and lowermost position of travel of the die support. During a processing cycle the user pushes the crank back and forth to rotate the drive cylinder. The crank begins its motion in a position corresponding to the uppermost position of the die support. As the crank is pulled forward mechanical components of the reloader push the round die support down against the cartridges to perform the processing steps at each of the processing stations, simultaneously. When the crank reaches its forward-most position, the die support reaches its lowermost position. And, as the crank is moved back towards its original position, the die support is returned to its uppermost position and the mechanical linkages also cause the shell plate to rotate to its next position, so that all of the cartridges being processed are moved to the next processing stations.
The die support, the dies, the rotating shell plate and the mechanisms that cause the up and down motion of the round die support relative to the rotating shell plate and the rotation of the shell plate relative to the central axis are together called the reloader press or simply the press.